Upsets, lets hear them... Right now I have my Final Four set up as Louisville, Ohio St, VCU, Indiana.
My upset is that my Lobos beat OSU. Should be an interesting dance. No clear #1. More like a dozen teams that are all solid.
I know who WON'T be making any upsets. ANY teams from Texas....never happened before and I am loving it!!!
Yeah, no biggie. That's me each and every year. I gotta tell you, nothing but LOTS of respect for Louisville....but something just tells me......they get knocked off early.
Oh, I don't know. Both Colorado State and the Billikens are going to give them ALL they can handle. Michigan State? Those are some tough teams. Colorado State is the leading rebounding team in the Nation. They are VERY well coached and fairly deep. Also tough defensively..and that's always important come TOurney time.
Was hoping for a 7 seed and not an 8/9 to avoid having to play a 1 the next game; Kansas will be tough.
Yep, Wisconsin is gonna be a tough match up, especially for the bigger contemporary teams. However, the smaller running teams will eat those big white guys up. They got stuck in a tough place. I think they will really struggle against Oklahoma State and especially Gonzaga.
That wouldnr be an upset, New Mexcio is very good..... my upsets in the 1st round are Oregon, and Minnesota....I have a few 10's beating 7's but those arent really upsets...
Well, Michigan's best players are small, fast and black and that didnt work out too well for them. With Wisconsin you basically get to 55 points you're likely gonna win, sounds easier than it is though.
OSU only needed.50 yesterday, but I get the point. Me-she-gan is an odd bird. On paper they are unbeatable......but only on paper
Shhhhhh...nobody East of the Mississippi is supposed to know about my alma-matter. How many people in New York even realize New Mexico is a State not a Country????? Steve Alford is a defensive wizard. They have great guard play, and two very good bigs in Alex Kirk and the big Aussie, and go 4 or 5 deep on the bench every night. They actually have 2 Aussies on the team. Cameron Barstow and Hugh Greenwood.
UM wins it all. ESPN's entire staff commits Seppuku on live television. The whole country cheers and deems this a national holiday. Except Boston, but **** Boston.
Been working on my bracket off and on this afternoon. Really tough to fill this one out this year as there just aren't clear-cut teams in any of the regions. Here's what I've got thus far: Midwest: I'm not sold on Louisville, who I think is actually the weakest #1 team in the tournament. I'm also not high on Duke, who seems to go deep every year but has been sort of up and down this year. It's tough for me to pick them to do any damage. I've got Valparaiso over Michigan State in a big upset, and I've got Memphis in the Sweet 16, though I'm debating on reversing those picks. My pick? St. Louis, who I think is underrated as a #4 seed and poised for upsets over Louisville and Duke en route to the Final Four. In fact, I've got them all the way to the National Championship game. West: Probably the toughest region to pick, with every team from 1 to 5 capable of making a run to the Final Four. I've got Kansas State over Wisconsin in Round 2, in a game I think will go a long way towards determining what happens in the rest of the region (and a great matchup) - because either way I don't see Gonzaga making it to the Elite Eight. I like Belmont in an upset over Arizona, as well as Iowa State over Notre Dame. New Mexico is an intriguing team, but I think the winner of this region is Ohio State, who should dispatch both the Lobos and the Wildcats on their way to Atlanta. South: Spoiler Alert: I'm picking Kansas all the way to the National Championship, but not just because I'm a huge fan of the Jayhawks. KU is capable of beating any team in the tournament, but they also have a tendency to get lost on offense. A lot of this will depend on the bench. At some point KU's bigs will get in foul trouble, so it will come down to how much progress Perry Ellis shows; if he continues his torrid play then he provides a much needed option off the bench. Otherwise this is a team that could easily flame out early, maybe even as early as Round 2 to UNC, which I think is the most exciting possible matchup of this region. I do think this is a region that will get hit with upsets; Michigan and UCLA both go home early. From there it's more straightforward - I've got Florida over Georgetown to get to the Elite Eight but I'm not a fan of either team. An argument could be made that this is the weakest region in the whole thing. East: I've got Bucknell and Davidson playing in Round 2, which should tell you how I feel about this region. I do have Miami all the way to the Elite Eight, but I'll be watching their Round 2 matchup closely. It wouldn't shock me to see them lose to Illinois/Colorado in Round 2 (I'm taking Illinois). With Marquette and Butler out of the picture early, this becomes all about Indiana, who I have in the Final Four after victories over Syracuse and Miami. Honestly, if I wasn't picking KU all the way the Hoosiers would be my pick to win it all.
You lost me Nordic God. Ohio State won't face both Arizona and New Mexico? Oh, and no way they get past my beloved (I'm saying this tongue in cheek. IF the Lobo's actually make it past Ohio State, it will be the biggest sports thing in New Mexico since Brian Urlacher......or Luc Longley....strangely, another UNM-Aussie connection.) True fact. While in New Mexico, Luc Longley met and wed a native New Mexican. After he went on to a succesfull NBA Career (He's the one that made Michael Jordan play good ) he and his beloved started a business venture down under. They now grow and harvest the New Mexican favorite fruit of Green Chili and sell it all across Europe...
I never understood why some Iowa fans hated Alford so much... he seems to be doing well at UNM, they're always making the NCAA tournament nowadays. Iowa is starting to turn their basketball program around though (they were actually competitive this year) so there's hope.
Kansas State Wildcats ... who I have going all the way to the Elite 8. The potential K-State / Wisconsin is the game of the region, for me. It's going to be a defensive slugfest and I could easily see it coming down to the last possession. I like Wisconsin but I give the edge to Kansas State ... they have just enough to get it done against the Badgers.
I love them, I have watched a bunch of their games this year.....I am a CBB honk....if they don't know about NM they are into it lol.....
Same reason most of us Dolphin fans hate Saban (at least I do) The LOBOS have won the very tough MWC 5 of the last 6 years since he went there. There are ALWAYS Iowa fans trolling Lobo boards and hating on Alford. His oldest son is currently on the team but being a true Freshman, riding the end of the bench. His next son is playing at La Cueva high in Albuquerque and re-writing all the State scoring records my friend Alex Kirk set a few years ago. LOBOS will only be losing 3 players next year, and none are starters. Alford has done an incredible job of recruiting. Stealing players from Arizona, UCLA, USC, SDSU etc etc etc.....
After thinking about the bracket last night, I've rescinded my pick of Kansas in the South, instead going with Florida. I think KU is capable of beating the Gators, but honestly I'm not 100% sure that they can get there to play them. They're going to face a very good Nova or UNC team in the second round, and both VCU and Michigan match up favorably against them. So my revised Final 4 becomes Indiana (1), Ohio State (2), Florida (3), and St. Louis (4). Seems as likely as any other scenario to play out. Since I'm not picking the Hawks I've got the Hoosiers over St. Louis in the title game.
That's pretty creepy. I have the same final four and championship outcome. I have VCU beating Kansas.
You guys are sleeping on GTOWN in that region, they arent a joke (CK smiles)....Nova is weak this year...
Akron would have an easier time with Michigan than they would VCU..... poor bastards got the second worst draw next to Oklahoma St getting Oregon...honorable mention for crap luck goes to UCLA as they got Minny...
I said yesterday I thought that the region was the weakest, mostly because teams like KU, Florida, and even Georgetown all have "Fatal Flaws". I've seen brackets with seeds 1-5 all advancing. So maybe weakest isn't the best descriptor - perhaps unpredictable would be better. Aside from Indiana there isn't a 1 seed i really like. Aside from Ohio State there isn't a 2 seed I really like, and that's mostly because they're in Gonzaga's bracket. Duke is Duke, and that's all well and good, but I don't get the sense that they're in for a long tournament run like in years past. Wouldn't shock me though.
The West is the weakest...even all the networks are saying it....mainly because of Zaga... haha VO I love this time of year....can never get the same answer...
Nah, Akron would have an easier time if their PG (and arguably 2nd most important player) didn't get busted for drug trafficking right before the conference tourney.
